Filner is running for San Diego mayor

Congressman Bob Filner has joined the 2012 race for San Diego mayor, seeking to run the city in which his political career began and becoming the first Democrat in a growing field of candidates.

Filner, 68, a former San Diego school board and City Council member, said he’s running because of his frustration with the inability of current and past city leaders to solve San Diego’s fiscal woes.

“Moving forward ... means making tough decisions, having adult conversations, sharing responsibility and doing what’s right for our citizens, not what’s popular with politicians,” he said. “Moving forward means making a clean sweep of the so-called leadership here at City Hall. Those who have driven this city into the ground need to step aside and go away.”

Filner is the fourth major candidate to enter the race following three Republicans: City Councilman Carl DeMaio, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and state Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher. They’ll square off in a June 5, 2012, primary and, if no one wins more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers would compete in a November runoff to determine the replacement for termed-out Mayor Jerry Sanders.

Each of the candidates has promised aggressive fundraising efforts this month as they try to secure financial support and assert themselves as viable options before the first campaign reporting period ends June 30.

John Dadian, a Republican political consultant who attended Filner’s news conference Wednesday at City Hall, said the race promises to be filled with political theater due to the increasing number of high-profile candidates.

“Usually you have one or two heavyweights and a lot of gadflys (running for mayor),” he said. “You’re certainly going to have quite a few gadflys this time, but you have quite a few heavyweights in this race. The most I’ve ever seen in over 20 years in San Diego.”

Filner is pitching himself as the candidate with “an outsider’s approach and view combined with an insider’s understanding of the problems and the solutions.” He also made it clear that his time on the San Diego City Council — 1987 to 1993 — came well before the infamous decisions by past city leaders that led to a $2.1 billion pension deficit and today’s budget problems.

Filner said he opposes the proposed 2012 ballot initiative crafted by DeMaio, Sanders and Councilman Kevin Faulconer that would replace guaranteed pensions for all new city hires except police officers. Under that plan, workers would receive a 401(k) instead. He promised to release a different plan in about a month.

“This is all our responsibility, it’s not just the city employees,” Filner said. “We cannot balance this situation on their backs. So I will have a plan that shares the responsibility where everyone has to make a sacrifice. We will solve that issue, get it off the table and move forward as a city.”

Filner also promised to release plans for job development and alternative energy during the race.

A former history professor at San Diego State University, Filner is known as a tough campaigner — “No one campaigns like I do,” he said Wednesday — with a long list of election victories under his belt. He was first elected to Congress in 1992 and enjoys strong support from labor unions.

His lengthy career hasn’t been without speed bumps. Filner once had a physical altercation with an airport worker over delayed luggage and had to pay a $100 fine and issue a court-ordered apology. He’s also been criticized for putting his wife on his campaign payroll and giving her more than $500,000 during a 10-year period.